Data centers are often designed with a projected capacity, which is usually more than twice the capacity utilized in the first day of its operation. Consequently, over time, equipment within the data center gets updated, replaced, and added as necessitated by the operational needs. Given the changes which take place during the life of a data center, it is important to be aware of what locations can be considered safe for new equipment. The safety factor is not only dictated by the available rack unit (RU) spaces within cabinets, the cabinet weight limits, and power availability, but more importantly it is also dictated by the available cooling (thermal) capacity at a given cabinet.
Various systems direct to thermal capacity management have been developed. However, continued need by data center managers for new ways of evaluating thermal capacity of a data center and how electronic equipment impacts this capacity creates a need for new and improved systems and methods related to this field.